Systems and methods for missed breath detection and indication

ABSTRACT

This disclosure describes improved systems and methods for displaying respiratory data to a clinician in a ventilatory system. Respiratory data may be displayed by any number of suitable means, for example, via appropriate graphs, diagrams, charts, waveforms, and other graphic displays. The disclosure describes novel systems and methods for determining and displaying ineffective patient inspiratory or expiratory efforts or missed breaths in a manner easily deciphered by a clinician.

INTRODUCTION

A ventilator is a device that mechanically helps patients breathe by replacing some or all of the muscular effort required to inflate and deflate the lungs. During respiration, the ventilator may be configured to present various graphs, charts, and other displays indicative of the physical condition of the patient and the respiratory treatment provided. The ventilatory displays may be further designed to present relevant clinical information to a practitioner in an efficient and orderly manner.

MISSED BREATH DETECTION AND INDICATION

This disclosure describes improved systems and methods for displaying respiratory data to a clinician in a ventilatory system. Respiratory data may be displayed by any number of suitable means, for example, via appropriate graphs, diagrams, charts, waveforms, and other graphic displays. The disclosure describes novel systems and methods for determining and displaying ineffective patient inspiratory or expiratory efforts or missed breaths in a manner easily deciphered by a clinician.

In part, this disclosure describes a method for determining missed breaths. The method includes:

a) monitoring respiratory data with at least one sensor;

b) analyzing the respiratory data with a first trigger detection application and a second trigger detection application;

c) detecting patient inspiratory efforts with the first trigger detection application and the second trigger detection application;

d) calculating a missed breaths metric based on detected patient inspiratory efforts by the first trigger detection application and detected patient inspiratory efforts by the second trigger detection application; and

e) displaying a missed breath indicator based on the missed breaths metric.

Yet another aspect of this disclosure describes a medical ventilator including:

a) at least one display device;

b) a missed breath module that determines missed breaths based on a first trigger detection application;

c) a ventilation module that determines ventilation of a patient based on a second trigger detection application; and

d) at least one memory, communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and containing instructions that, when executed by a processor of the ventilatory system, provide a graphical user interface on the at least one display, comprising a missed breath indicator.

The disclosure further describes a computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing a method implemented by a ventilator for determining missed breaths, the method includes:

a) repeatedly monitoring respiratory data with at least one sensor;

b) repeatedly analyzing the respiratory data with a first trigger detection application and a second trigger detection application;

c) repeatedly detecting patient inspiratory efforts with the first trigger detection application and the second trigger detection application;

d) repeatedly calculating a missed breaths metric based on the results of the detection operation; and

e) repeatedly displaying a missed breath indicator based on the missed breaths metric.

The disclosure also describes a medical ventilator system, including means for monitoring respiratory data with at least one sensor, means for analyzing the respiratory data with a first trigger detection application and a second trigger detection application, means for detecting patient inspiratory efforts with the first trigger detection application and the second trigger detection application, means for calculating a missed breaths metric based on the results of the detection operation, and means for displaying a missed breath indicator based on the missed breaths metric.

These and various other features as well as advantages which characterize the systems and methods described herein will be apparent from a reading of the following detailed description and a review of the associated drawings. Additional features are set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the technology. The benefits and features of the technology will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following drawing figures, which form a part of this application, are illustrative of embodiments, systems, and methods described below and are not meant to limit the scope of the invention in any manner, which scope shall be based on the claims appended hereto.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of an exemplary ventilator connected to a human patient.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a ventilatory system having a graphical user interface for displaying respiratory data.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a method for ventilating a patient on a ventilator having a graphical user interface for displaying respiratory data.

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of a graphical user interface for displaying a plurality of graphical representations of respiratory data, a delivered breath indicator, and a missed breath indicator.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a method for displaying and/or updating the display of a missed breath indicator.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a method for displaying and/or updating the display of a missed breath indicator.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Although the techniques introduced above and discussed in detail below may be implemented for a variety of medical devices, the present disclosure will discuss the implementation of these techniques in the context of a medical ventilator for use in providing ventilation support to a human patient. The reader will understand that the technology described in the context of a medical ventilator for human patients could be adapted for use with other systems such as ventilators for non-human patients, general gas transport systems, and other therapeutic equipment having graphical user interfaces for displaying data.

Medical ventilators are used to provide a breathing gas to a patient who may otherwise be unable to breathe sufficiently. In modern medical facilities, pressurized air and oxygen sources are often available from wall outlets. Accordingly, ventilators may provide pressure regulating valves (or regulators) connected to centralized sources of pressurized air and pressurized oxygen. The regulating valves function to regulate flow so that respiratory gas having a desired concentration of oxygen is supplied to the patient at desired pressures and rates. Ventilators capable of operating independently of external sources of pressurized air are also available.

In the medical device field, “patient effort” is a term that can be used to describe many different patient parameters. To be clear, for the purposes of this document, the term “patient effort” shall be used herein to mean a patient's spontaneous attempt to initiate an inspiration or an exhalation as determined by an analysis of pressure, flow, volume, etc. measured by the ventilator. For example, a drop in pressure of greater than a threshold amount may be detected and identified as a single effort of the patient to initiate an inspiration. At time, the phrase “patient inspiratory effort” or “patient expiratory effort” will be used instead of patient effort to remind the reader that what is meant is an attempt by the patient to change the phase of respiratory cycle.

A recent study suggests that clinicians are able to detect less than one-third of patient efforts that do not result in the delivery of a breath, or missed breaths.¹ Further, this study has shown that the rate of correct detection decreases as the prevalence of missed breaths increases. Considering that missed breaths may occur in up to 80% of mechanically ventilated patients, systems and methods for displaying missed breaths are needed. While operating a ventilator on a spontaneously breathing patient, it is desirable to limit, or preferably eliminate, patient efforts that do not result in the delivery of a breath. Hereinafter, patient efforts that do not result in the delivery of a breath shall be referred to as “ineffective patient efforts” or “ineffective triggers”. In addition, patient inspiratory efforts that do not result in the delivery of a breath by the ventilator may also be referred to as “missed breaths”. ¹ Colombo, D., Cammarota, G., Alemani, M., Carenzo, L., Barra, F., Vaschetto, R., et al. (2011). Efficacy of ventilator waveforms observation in detecting patient-ventilator asynchrony. Critical Care Medicine, p. 3.

This disclosure describes systems and methods for displaying respiratory data to a clinician in a ventilatory system. Specifically, the systems and methods disclosed herein determine and/or display ineffective patient efforts.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of an exemplary ventilator 100 connected to a human patient 150. The ventilator 100 includes a pneumatic system 102 (also referred to as a pressure generating system 102) for circulating breathing gases to and from the patient 150 via a ventilation tubing system 130, which couples the patient to the pneumatic system via an invasive patient interface.

The ventilation tubing system 130 may be a two-limb (shown) or a one-limb circuit for carrying gas to and from the patient 150. In a two-limb embodiment as shown, a fitting, typically referred to as a “wye-fitting” 170, may be provided to couple the patient interface to an inspiratory limb 132 and an expiratory limb 134 of the ventilation tubing system 130.

The pneumatic system 102 may be configured in a variety of ways. In the present example, the system 102 includes an expiratory module 108 coupled with the expiratory limb 134 and an inspiratory module 104 coupled with the inspiratory limb 132. A compressor 106 or other source(s) of pressurized gases (e.g., air, oxygen, and/or helium) is coupled with an inspiratory module 104 to provide a gas source for ventilatory support via the inspiratory limb 132. A missed breath module 109 is coupled with the inspiratory module 104 and the expiratory module 108 to detect when a missed breath occurs and is described in more detail in FIG. 2 below.

The pneumatic system 102 may include a variety of other components, including sources for pressurized air and/or oxygen, mixing modules, valves, sensors, tubing, accumulators, filters, etc. A controller 110 is operatively coupled with the pneumatic system 102, signal measurement and acquisition systems, and an operator interface 120 that may enable an operator to interact with the ventilator 100 (e.g., change ventilator settings, select operational modes, view monitored parameters, etc.). The controller 110 may include memory 112, one or more processors 116, storage 114, and/or other components of the type commonly found in command and control computing devices.

The memory 112 is computer-readable storage media that stores software that is executed by the processor 116 and which controls the operation of the ventilator 100. The memory may be transitory or non-transitory. In an embodiment, the memory 112 includes one or more solid-state storage devices such as flash memory chips. In an alternative embodiment, the memory 112 may be mass storage connected to the processor 116 through a mass storage controller (not shown) and a communications bus (not shown). Although the description of computer-readable media contained herein refers to a solid-state storage, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that computer-readable storage media can be any available media that can be accessed by the processor 116. Computer-readable storage media includes volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Computer-readable storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other solid state memory technology, CD-ROM, DVD, or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by the computer.

As described in more detail below, the controller 110 may monitor the pneumatic system 102 in order to evaluate the condition of the patient and to ensure proper functioning of the ventilator. The specific monitoring may be based on inputs received from the pneumatic system 102 and sensors, operator interface 120, and/or other components of the ventilator. In the depicted example, operator interface includes a display 122 that is touch-sensitive, enabling the display to serve both as an input and output device.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a ventilatory system 200 having a graphical user interface for displaying respiratory data.

A ventilator 202 includes a display module 204, memory 208, one or more processors 206, user interface 210, monitor modules 216-222, time monitor module 224, graphics module 226, and ventilation module 212. The ventilation module 212 further includes a missed breath module 211. The missed breath module 211 in system 200 is the same as the missed breath module 109 described in the system 100 above. The memory 208 is defined as described above for the memory 112 in FIG. 1. Similarly, the one or more processors 206 are defined as described above for the one or more processors 116. The processors 206 may further be configured with a clock whereby elapsed time may be monitored by the system 200. Alternatively, a time monitor module 224 may be provided for monitoring time and associating a temporal element with the various data collected by the monitoring modules 216-222.

The ventilation module 212 oversees ventilation delivered to a patient according to the ventilator settings prescribed for the patient. The ventilator settings are determined by a selected or predetermined ventilation mode and/or breath type. The ventilation module 212 delivers pressure and/or volume into a ventilatory circuit (depending on whether the ventilator is configured for pressure or volume controlled delivery), and thereby into a patient's lungs, based on the breath type and/or mode. Spontaneous breath types are referred to herein as “trigger detection applications,” since trigger detection applications require detection of patient effort in order to determine when to deliver a breath to the patient. The trigger detection applications include known spontaneous breath types, such as but are not limited to Proportional Assist Ventilation (PAV), Volume Ventilation Plus (VV+), I:E SYNC, Pressure Support (PS), Volume Support (VS), Assist Control (AC), Volume Control (VC), Pressure Control (PC), Airway Pressure Release Ventilation (APRV), Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), and BiLevel Positive Airway Pressure (BPAP). As discussed above, the trigger detection applications trigger the delivery of a breath when a patient effort is detected. While the methods for determining patient effort vary based on the trigger detection application used, in some embodiments, the patient effort is determined based on calculations involving monitored pressure and/or monitored flow. The ventilation module 212, and therefore the trigger detection applications, is communicatively coupled to at least one of the monitoring modules 216-222, the display module 204, the memory 208, the processor 206, the user interface 210, the graphics module 226, the time monitor module 224, and any other suitable component and/or module. For example, the trigger detection application may determine when to trigger a breath based on monitored data received from the monitoring modules 216-222.

The ventilation module 212 further includes a missed breath module 211. The missed breath module 211 utilizes a trigger detection application that detects patient efforts to determine when a patient desires a delivered breath. However, this trigger detection application does not ever actually deliver any breath based on the detected patient efforts and is therefore referred to herein as running in the background or as a “background trigger detection application” (also referred to as a first trigger detection application). A trigger detection application utilized to determine when to deliver the breaths to the patient during ventilation by the ventilator is referred to herein as the “active trigger detection application” (also referred to as a second trigger detection application). Accordingly, the background trigger detection application and the active trigger detection application determine a patient effort by monitoring patient parameters from the monitoring modules 216-222. In some embodiments, the background trigger detection application determines patient efforts based on monitored intrapleural pressure received from the intrapleural pressure (IP) monitoring module 216.

The missed breath module 211 compares the detected patient efforts to the delivered breaths by the ventilation module 212. For any detected patient effort that does not correlate with a delivered breath, the missed breath module 211 determines that the detected patient effort is an ineffective trigger effort by the patient. The missed breath module 211 may store determined information or send determined information to the display module 204, the processor 206, the memory 208, the user interface 210, the time monitor module 224, the graphics module 226, and/or any other suitable component and/or module. The determined information may include a single instance of an ineffective trigger effort by the patient, a sequential history of ineffective trigger efforts over a period of time (either predetermined or input by the clinician), or a rate of ineffective trigger efforts (for example the number of ineffective trigger efforts per minute) that may be averaged over a period of time that is predetermined or input by the clinician.

Further, for any detected patient effort that does correlate with a delivered breath, the missed breath module 211 determines the detected patient effort to be an effective trigger effort by the patient. The missed breath module 211 may store determined information or send determined information to the display module 204, the processor 206, the memory 208, the user interface 210, the time monitor module 224, the graphics module 226, and/or any other suitable component and/or module. The determined information may include a single instance of an effective trigger effort by the patient, a sequential history of effective trigger efforts over a period of time (either predetermined or input by the clinician), or a rate of effective trigger efforts (for example the number of effective trigger efforts per minute) that may be averaged over a period of time that is predetermined or input by the clinician.

The use of intrapleural pressure is an effective way to determine patient effort. When a patient makes an effort to breath, the patient's diaphragm will contract, and decrease the intrapleural pressure in order to draw air (or another substance) into the lungs. Because the contraction of the diaphragm is the effect of patient effort the intrapleural pressure change is the first and most direct way to determine patient effort, as a pressure/flow change will happen subsequently. Therefore a trigger detection application that uses intrapleural pressure is more sensitive to patient efforts than a trigger detection application that only uses pressure or flow. A trigger detection application running in the background is a good way to determine when missed breaths occur due to its inherent sensitivity.

A patient effort may be used to trigger one or more actions on the part of the ventilator, such as but not limited to a transition from exhalation to inhalation (or from inhalation to exhalation). It should be noted that ventilators depending on their mode of operation, may trigger automatically and/or in response to a detected change in a monitored parameter such as but not limited to patient effort, pressure, and flow. In one embodiment a monitored flow signal is used to determine when patient effort occurs. A variety of signals, for example, can be used by a trigger detection application to determine when patient effort occurs such as but not limited to patient airway pressure, lung flow, and intrapleural pressure. In an exemplary embodiment, the ventilator utilizes multiple trigger detection applications simultaneously. A first trigger detection application is used to detect when patient effort occurs, but the ventilator does not actively use the detected patient effort to trigger one or more actions on the part of the ventilator. In this embodiment the first trigger detection application is used to determine when a missed breath occurs. As used herein, the term “missed breath” refers to a patient effort that does not trigger one or more actions on the part of the ventilator, such as the delivery of a breath, the transition from inhalation to exhalation, or the transition from exhalation to inhalation. The first trigger detection application uses intrapleural pressure to detect when a patient effort occurs. In this embodiment, a second trigger detection application is used to determine when to trigger the ventilator. The second trigger detection application may use any suitable current or future known triggering methods based on monitored respiratory parameters such as but not limited to pressure and flow.

The display module 204 presents various input screens to a clinician, including but not limited to one or more graphics display screens, as will be described further herein, for receiving clinician input and for displaying useful clinical data to the clinician. The display module 204 is further configured to communicate with the user interface 210. The display module 204 may provide various windows, controls, and display elements to the clinician via a graphical user interface (GUI) for input and interface command operations. Thus, the user interface 210 may accept commands and input through the display module 204. The display module 204 may also provide useful information in the form of various respiratory data regarding the physical condition of a patient and/or the prescribed respiratory treatment. The useful information may be derived by the ventilator 202, based on data gathered from the various monitoring modules 216-222, and the useful information may be displayed to the clinician in the form of graphs, wave representations, pie graphs, text, symbols, prompts, graphics, lights, lines, indicators, or other suitable forms of graphic display. The display module 204 may further be an interactive display, whereby the clinician may both receive and communicate information to the ventilator 202, as by a touch-activated display screen. Alternatively, the user interface 210 may provide other suitable means of communication with the ventilator 202, for instance by a keyboard or other suitable interactive device.

One or more graphics display screens provided by the display module 204 may each display one or more graphic representations of respiratory data, for example, graphical representations may include, inter cilia, pressure waveforms, volume waveforms, flow waveforms, flow curves, pressure-volume loops, flow-volume loops, text, symbols, prompts, graphics, lights, lines, cursors, interactive elements, indicators, or any other current or future known graphical representation suitable for displaying respiratory data. For instance, a volume waveform may depict tidal volume, i.e., the total volume of air inhaled and exhaled for one respiratory cycle, over time. A pressure waveform may depict circuit pressure, as measured or derived, for each inspiration and expiration over time. A pressure-volume loop may be generated for each breath, inspiration represented as a positive curve and expiration represented as a negative curve completing a single loop. In some embodiments the graphical representation is a respiratory rate as illustrated in FIG. 4.

In other embodiments, an indicator is displayed by the one or more graphics display screens provided by the display module 204. The indicator may be a missed breath or a delivered breath indicator. The missed breath indicator displays data relating to a missed breath and the delivered breath indicator displays data relating to a delivered breath. The indicators include as measured or derived, for each instance of a delivered and/or missed breath, for total delivered and/or missed breaths over a period of time, for a rate of delivered and/or missed breaths, for a history of delivered and/or missed breaths, or for any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the indicator is displayed on top of or within the one or more graphical representations.

In some embodiments, the ventilator stores a sequential history of the graphical representations and/or respiratory data, such as a missed breath indicator and a delivered breath indicator. As described above, the graphics module 226, or another suitable component or module, may archive graphical representations and indicators according to time. Some graphical representations and/or indicators may inherently include a time element, as with waveforms of respiratory data presented over time. Other graphical representations or indicators may be presented as a function of a single respiratory cycle, or breath, such as a flow-volume or a pressure-volume loop. The graphics module 226, or another suitable component or module, may associate the respiratory data of the graphical representation and/or indicators with a time element. In the alternative, the monitoring modules 216-222 may associate the respiratory data with a time element, or time stamp, before communicating data to the graphics module 226. In either case, graphical representations and/or indicators may be archived in sequential order based on time. In an embodiment, a cursor or indicator is displayed over a graphical representation of a respiratory signal such as, but not limited to, pressure and flow, at an appropriate temporal location based on when the delivered and/or missed breath occurred.

In an embodiment, a delivered and/or missed breath indicator is displayed as at least one of text, symbol, prompt, graphic, light, line or by another suitable form of graphic display. In another embodiment, the missed breath and delivered breath indicator include the display of a delivered and/or missed breath rate. The graphics module 226, or another suitable component or module, may archive historical data, such as indicators, which may be time-stamped, in sequential order over a particular time period. This rate can be the number or an average of the number of delivered and/or missed breaths per time period, where the time period can be predetermined, such as a minute, or input by the clinician. For example, the indicators may display the number of delivered and/or missed breaths in the last minute. The average can be taken from a predetermined or input number of values over a predetermined or input period of time. For example, the indicators may further display a rate based on an average of the last five values where each value represents the number of delivered and/or missed breaths for that minute. In an embodiment, the indicator may display a percentage or ratio at least partially representative of the delivered and/or missed breaths. For example, if the number of delivered breaths as well as the number of missed breaths are both known, then the indicator may display a percentage or ratio of delivered and/or missed breaths per total breaths, where total breaths is the addition of missed breaths and delivered breaths. In an embodiment, the indicators include a total breath indicator where the total breath indicator represents the addition of missed breaths and delivered breaths. Additionally, an indicator such as but not limited to text, symbol, prompt, graphic, light, line, cursor, interactive element, or indicator may be displayed to represent that missed breaths are being monitored. Further, an indicator such as but not limited to text, symbol, prompt, graphic, light, line, cursor, interactive element, or indicator may be displayed to represent settings for monitoring missed breaths. In some embodiments, a prompt is displayed with adjustable elements representative of turning on and/or off the missed breath module 211 as well as an inhalation and exhalation trigger values for missed breath monitoring. In some embodiments, these indicators are selectable and/or adjusted by a clinician via the user interface.

Data may be collected and displayed according to any suitable method. Thus, a plurality of various graphical representations and/or indicators may be provided, each graphical representation and/or indicator communicating different useful information to the clinician. However, sometimes it may be useful for the clinician to compare the respiratory data displayed if the respiratory data is displayed in a manner that is easier for the clinician to understand, which increases the chance that the clinician will discover a missed breath and can decrease patient-ventilator asynchrony by adjusting ventilator parameters.

The monitoring modules 216-222 operate to monitor the physical condition of the patient in conjunction with the proper operation of the ventilator 202. Although only a sampling of potential monitoring modules are shown and described, any number of suitable monitoring modules may be provided in keeping within the spirit of the present disclosure. The monitoring modules 216-222 may communicate with the display module 204, the user interface 210, the graphics module 226, the missed breath module 211, the ventilation module 212, and/or other suitable modules or processors of the ventilator 202. Specifically, the monitoring modules 216-222 may communicate with the graphics module 226 and/or the display module 204 such that collected data regarding the physical condition of the patient and/or the prescribed ventilation may be displayed to the clinician.

The monitoring modules 216-222 may utilize one or more sensors to detect changes in various physiological parameters. Specifically, the one or more sensors may be placed in any suitable internal location, within the ventilator itself, or in any suitable external location, within the ventilatory circuitry or other devices communicatively coupled to the ventilator 202. For example, sensors may be coupled to inspiratory and/or expiratory modules for detecting changes in, for example, circuit pressure and flow. Additionally, the one or more sensors may be affixed to the ventilatory tubing or may be imbedded in the tubing itself.

An intrapleural pressure monitor module 216 monitors or estimates intrapleural pressure. The term “intrapleural pressure,” as used herein, refers generally to the pressure exerted by the patient's diaphragm on the cavity in the thorax that contains the lungs, or the pleural cavity, and should further represent estimates of the pressure and/or any derivatives thereof. The intrapleural pressure monitor module 216 may measure intrapleural pressure according to any suitable method either known or discovered in the future. Alternatively, the intrapleural pressure monitor module 216 may derive intrapleural pressure readings from other data and measurements according to mathematical operations or otherwise. For example, an algorithm that estimates how the patient's intrapleural pressure is changing in real-time based on measured pressure and flow may be used. In one embodiment, the algorithm utilized measured pressure, inlet flow, and outlet flow to determine intrapleural pressure is the algorithm described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/980,583 filed Dec. 29, 2010. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/980,583 filed Dec. 29, 2010 is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

A pressure monitor module 218 monitors pressure within a ventilatory circuit. The pressure monitor module 218 may measure pressure according to any suitable method either known or discovered in the future. For example, pressure transducers may be attached at various locations along the ventilatory circuit to detect changes in circuit pressure. Specifically, sensors may utilize optical or ultrasound techniques for measuring changes in circuit pressure. Alternatively, the pressure monitor module 218 may derive pressure readings from other data and measurements according to mathematical operations or otherwise.

A flow monitor module 220 monitors airflow within a ventilatory circuit, for example by utilizing sensors as described above for monitoring pressure. Inspiratory flow may be represented as a positive flow and expiratory flow may be represented as a negative flow. Flow may be measured or derived by any suitable method either currently known or disclosed in the future. Specifically, flow may be derived according to mathematical operations or measured at selected points along the ventilatory circuit.

A volume monitor module 222 monitors the volume of air exchanged during a respiratory cycle. The volume monitor module 222 may measure tidal volume by any suitable method, or may derive volume according to mathematical equations based on measurements of pressure and/or flow, for example.

The display module 204 may be further configured to communicate with the graphics module 226. The graphics module 226 may interact with the various monitoring modules 216-222 and may process data received from the monitoring modules 216-222 and the time module 224 to produce the various indicators and/or graphical representations displayed on the display module 204. In some embodiments, the display module 204 further interacts with the missed breath module 109. Alternatively, the graphics module 226 may be configured with a clock for monitoring time without need for an additional time module 224. The graphics module 226 may be configured to process data according to any suitable mathematical or graphical means. For instance, the graphics module 226 may plot raw data received from one monitoring module versus raw data received from another monitoring module. Alternatively, the graphics module 226 may transform raw data received from one or more monitoring modules by utilizing one or more mathematical operations, and may plot the mathematically transformed data versus other raw data, versus other transformed data, or versus a unit of time, for example. The graphics module 226 may transform raw data and may plot transformed or raw data to produce any number of useful graphical representations and/or indicators as may be desired by the clinician. The graphics module 226 may receive commands from the user interface 210 or may be preconfigured to perform certain default operations and manipulations of data for generating useful graphical representations and/or indicators. The graphics module 226 may further be configured to continuously accept data from the various monitoring modules 216-222, the missed breath module 109, and/or from the user interface 210 such that the graphical representations and/or indicators displayed on the display module 204 may be continuously updated and presented in real-time or quasi-real-time to the clinician.

Additionally, the graphics module 226 may be configured to store historical data associated with each graphical representation and/or indicator. The graphics module 226 may be in communication with the time monitor module 224, or other clock feature provided by the ventilator 202, such that data within each graphical representation and/or indicator is associated with a time stamp. Specifically, underlying respiratory data may be time-stamped as it is received from the monitoring modules 216-222. As graphical representations of the respiratory data are generated by the graphics module 226, a time element may be incorporated such that each position on a waveform or loop, for instance, is associated with a time element. The graphics module 226 may archive time-stamped or non-time-stamped historical data in sequential order over a particular time period. Thereafter, a clinician may utilize a scroll feature to scroll through a history of graphical representations and/or indicators stored over the time period. The time period may represent any temporal period of interest to the clinician, for instance, an hour, a day, a week, or an entire treatment period. Indeed, the ventilator may archive all data during a respiratory treatment period unless the clinician instructs otherwise. In the alternative, the ventilator may archive data over a most recent period, perhaps the last day, in order to free memory for other ventilatory functions.

In an embodiment, as a clinician utilizes the scroll feature, the graphics module 226 may drill into the underlying historical data to determine an associated time element, or may retrieve a time element associated with each stored graphical representation and/or indicator, in order to provide an appropriate graphical representation and/or indicators to the clinician based on a selected historical time. For example, the graphics module 226 may determine an appropriate historical pressure waveform, an appropriate historical indicator, and an appropriate position on the appropriate pressure waveform associated with a selected historical time. The graphics module 226 may display a cursor at the appropriate position on the appropriate pressure waveform and may display historical indicators, such as but not limited to missed breath indicators, delivered breath indicators, and total breath indicators, within an appropriate range of the cursor. The graphics module 226 may also be configured to simultaneously display cursors and historical indicators in corresponding locations on any other displayed graphical representations based on the selected historical time. As described above, reference lines intersecting the cursors and the axes of the various graphical representations may also be provided, along with a plurality of boxed fields for highlighting specific respiratory data associated with the selected historical time.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a method 300 for ventilating a patient on a ventilator. In some embodiments, the ventilator performing the method 300 is the ventilator 100 described in FIG. 1, having a graphical user interface for displaying respiratory data. The method 300 includes a respiratory data display operation 304, an effort detection operation 306, an effective trigger determination operation 308, an update delivered breath indicator operation 310, and an update missed breath indicator operation 312.

A patient is ventilated with a ventilator. As illustrated, the method 300 begins after the start of ventilation.

The method 300 includes the respiratory data display operation 304. The ventilator system during the respiratory data display operation 304 determines at least one graphical representation of respiratory data based on the ventilation of the patient and displays the graphical representations. In one embodiment, the ventilator uses the display 122 to perform the respiratory data display operation 304. The graphical representations may include a waveform, flow curve, pressure-volume loop, flow-volume loop, text symbol, prompt, graphic, light, line, cursor, interactive element, and indicator. The graphical representation may include collected data regarding the physical condition of the patient. The graphical representation may be displayed to the clinician in real-time, quasi-real-time, or historically. As described above, a ventilator may provide numerous graphical representations of respiratory data to a clinician during respiration of a patient. The graphical representation may be determined by the ventilator during the respiratory data display operation 304 based on monitored data. The ventilator may receive the monitored data from monitoring modules, such as the monitoring modules 216-222 discussed in FIG. 2 above. The ventilator may store a sequential history of the graphical representations provided. The graphics module 226, or another suitable component or module, may archive graphical representations according to time. Some graphical representations may inherently include a time element, as with waveforms of respiratory data presented over time. Other graphical representations may be presented as a function of a single respiratory cycle, or breath, such as a flow-volume or a pressure-volume loop. The graphics module 226, or another suitable component or module, may associate the respiratory data of the graphical representation with a time element. In the alternative, the monitoring modules 216-222 may associate the respiratory data with a time element, or time stamp, before communicating data to the graphics module 226. In either case, graphical representations may be archived in sequential order based on time.

It is understood by a person of skill in the art that the respiratory data display operation 304 may be performed at any time and/or simultaneously with any other operation in the method 300 that is performed after the start of ventilation but before the performance of the display delivered breath indicator operation 310 and the display missed breath indicator operation 312.

The method 300 further includes the effort detection operation 306. The ventilator system during the effort detection operation 306 monitors patient respiratory data and detects patient effort with an active and a background trigger detection application. As used herein, the term “patient effort” refers to an effort exerted by the patient to inspire and/or exhale gases. As discussed above, a trigger detection application is a hardware or software application that determines when a patient effort occurs based on a selected or predetermined spontaneous breath type. The active trigger detection application may include Proportional Assist Ventilation (PAV), Volume Ventilation Plus (VV+), I:E SYNC, Pressure Support (PS), Volume Support (VS), Assist Control (AC), Volume Control (VC), Pressure Control (PC), Airway Pressure Release Ventilation (APRV), Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), and BiLevel Positive Airway Pressure (BPAP). The active trigger detection application may determine patient efforts based on monitoring respiratory parameters such as but not limited to pressure and flow. In one embodiment the background trigger detection application is I:E SYNC. In this embodiment, the background trigger detection application determines patient effort based on monitoring intrapleural pressure.

As illustrated, the method 300 includes the trigger determination operation 308. The ventilator during the trigger determination operation 308 determines whether a detected patient effort was effective or ineffective. The effective patient effort is determined based on detected patient effort by the second trigger detection application. In an embodiment, a patient effort detected by the second trigger detection application that results in the delivery of a breath is determined to be effective. In another embodiment, if a first patient effort detected by the first trigger detection application correlates to a second patient effort detected by the second trigger detection application, then the two detected patient efforts are considered to have been generated by the same patient effort and is therefore determined effective. The first patient effort and the second patient effort may correlate if recorded at the same time or within a reasonable and expected time delay, such as 3 seconds or less. This effective patient effort may result in the delivery of a breath.

The ineffective trigger effort is determined based on detected patient effort by the first trigger detection application not correlating with detected patient effort by the second trigger detection application. The first patient effort and the second patient effort may correlate if recorded at the same time or within a reasonable and expected time delay, such as 3 seconds or less. If there is not any correlation between the first detected patient effort and the second detected patient effort, then the patient effort that was not used to trigger the ventilator, in this case the first detected patient effort, is determined to be ineffective. Further, a missed breath is the direct result of an ineffective effort. In an embodiment, an equation or mathematical operation is used to determine if the first detected patient effort correlates with the second detected patient effort. In an embodiment, the first trigger detection application is running in the background, and not actively used to trigger the delivery of breaths to the patient. Further, the second trigger detection application is actively working and is used to trigger the delivery of breaths to the patient. In an embodiment, the first trigger detection application determines patient effort based at least in part on intrapleural pressure.

If the detected patient effort is determined to be effective, the method 300 will perform the update delivered breath indicator operation 310. If the detected patient effort is determined to be ineffective, the method 300 will perform the update missed breath indicator operation 312.

The method 300 further includes the update delivered breath indicator operation 310. The ventilator during the update delivered breath indicator operation 310 displays a delivered breath indicator for the effective trigger effort on the graphical representation. In an embodiment, the ventilator during the update delivered breath indicator operation 310 updates the display of a delivered breath indicator that was previously displayed. The ventilator may store a sequential history of the delivered breath indicators provided. As described above, the graphics module 226, or another suitable component and/or module, may archive delivered breath indicators according to time, and may associate a time element with the delivered breath indicators. In an alternative embodiment, the monitoring modules 216-222 associate the delivered breath indicators with a time element, or time stamp, before communicating data to the graphics module 226. In either case, delivered breath indicators may be archived in sequential order based on time, resulting in an archived effective indicator. In an embodiment, the delivered breath indicator is displayed on top of a graphical representation of a respiratory signal such as, but not limited to, pressure and flow, at an appropriate temporal location based on when the delivered breath occurred. In an embodiment, a delivered breath indicator is displayed as at least one of text, symbol, prompt, graphic, light, line, cursor, interactive element, indicator, or by another suitable form of graphic display. In another embodiment the delivered breath indicator displays a delivered breath rate. This rate can be the number or an average of the number of delivered breaths per time period, where the time period can be predetermined, such as a minute, or input by the clinician. For example, a delivered breath indicator displays the number of delivered breaths in the last minute. The average can be taken from a predetermined or input number of values over a predetermined or input period of time. For example, a delivered breath indicator displays a rate based on an average of the last five values where each value represents the number of delivered breaths for that minute. In an embodiment, a delivered breath indicator displays a percentage or ratio at least partially representative of the delivered breaths. For example, if the number of delivered breaths as well as the number of missed breaths are both known then a delivered breath indicator representing a percentage or ratio of delivered breaths per total breaths may be displayed where total breaths is the addition of missed breaths and delivered breaths. Indeed, data may be collected and displayed according to any suitable method.

The method 300 further includes the update missed breath indicator operation 312. The ventilator during the update missed breath indicator operation 312 displays a missed breath indicator for the ineffective trigger effort on the graphical representation. In an embodiment, the ventilator during the update missed breath indicator operation 312 updates the display of a missed breath indicator that was previously displayed. The ventilator may store a sequential history of the missed breath indicators provided. The missed breath module 211, or another suitable component and/or module, may archive missed breath indicators according to time, and may associate a time element with the missed breath indicators. In the alternative, the monitoring modules 216-222 may associate the missed breath indicators with a time element, or time stamp, before communicating data to the graphics module 226 and/or the missed breath module 211. In either case, missed breath indicators may be archived in sequential order based on time, resulting in an archived ineffective indicator. In an embodiment missed breath indicators as well as delivered breath indicators may be archived in sequential order based on time, resulting in an archived total indicator. In an embodiment, the missed breath indicator is displayed on top of a graphical representation of a respiratory signal such as, but not limited to, pressure and flow, at an appropriate temporal location based on when the missed breath occurred. In an embodiment, a missed breath is displayed as at least one of text, symbol, prompt, graphic, light, line, cursor, interactive element, indicator, or by another suitable form of graphic display. In another embodiment the missed breath indicator displays a missed breath rate. This rate can be the number or an average of the number of missed breaths per time period, where the time period can be predetermined, such as a minute, or input by the clinician. For example, a missed breath indicator displays the number of missed breaths in the last minute. The average can be taken from a predetermined or input number of values over a predetermined or input period of time. For example, a missed breath indicator displays a rate based on an average of the last five values where each value represents the number of missed breaths for that minute. In an embodiment, a missed breath indicator displays a percentage or ratio at least partially representative of the missed breaths. For example, if the number of delivered breaths as well as the number of missed breaths are both known then a missed breath indicator representing a percentage or ratio of missed breaths per total breaths may be displayed where total breaths is the addition of missed breaths and delivered breaths. In an embodiment, the missed breath indicator displays a total breath indicator where the total breath indicator at least partially represents the total breaths, where the total breaths is the addition of missed breaths and delivered breaths. Additionally, a missed breath indicator may be displayed to represent that missed breaths are being monitored. Further, a missed breath indicator may be displayed to represent settings for monitoring missed breaths. For example, a missed breath indicator displays a prompt with adjustable elements representative of turning on and/or off the missed breath monitoring as well as inhalation and exhalation trigger values for missed breath monitoring using the first trigger detection application. Indeed, data may be collected and displayed according to any suitable method.

It is understood by a person of skill in the art that the update delivered breath indicator operation 310 and the update missed breath indicator operation 312 may be performed in any order and/or simultaneously. In one embodiment, the update delivered breath indicator operation 310 and/or the update missed breath indicator operation 312 are performed in real-time or quasi-real-time.

In an embodiment, the method 300 repeats and/or is performed at least once during each breath cycle.

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of a graphical user interface (GUI) 400 for displaying a plurality of graphical representations of respiratory data, a delivered breath indicator, and a missed breath indicator. Specifically, FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of a missed breath display screen wherein a clinician may initiate a missed breath monitoring mode and thereafter may simultaneously view a plurality of graphical representations and missed breath indicators corresponding to missed breaths.

The disclosed embodiment of the graphical user interface 400 provides a plurality of graphical representations of respiratory data to a clinician. Graphical representations may include, inter cilia, pressure waveforms, volume waveforms, flow waveforms, flow curves, pressure-volume loops, flow-volume loops, text, symbols, prompts, graphics, lights, lines, cursors, interactive elements, indicators, or any other current or future known graphical representation suitable for the GUI 400. Specifically, the GUI 400 includes, for example, a pressure waveform (graphical representation 402), a flow waveform (graphical representation 404), a historical delivered breath indicator (delivered breath indicator 406), a delivered breath indicator (delivered breath indicator 408), a missed breath indicator (missed breath indicator 410), a historical missed breath indicator (missed breath indicator 412), a missed breath cursor (missed breath indicator 414), a delivered breath cursor (delivered breath indicator 416), and a monitoring mode settings box (missed breath indicator 418).

The pressure waveform 402 may display circuit pressure in cm H₂O over time (for example, over seconds, s). As shown, the pressure waveform 402 illustrates two distinct peaks in circuit pressure, corresponding to the inspiratory phases of two respiratory cycles, or breaths. The flow waveform 404 may display flow in liters (L) over time (for example, over minutes, min). As shown, the flow waveform 404 illustrates inspiratory flow as a positive curve, and expiratory flow as a negative curve. Two distinct respiratory cycles or breaths, each including a positive inspiratory phase and a negative expiratory phase, are illustrated in the flow waveform 404.

As described previously, the delivered breath indicator 408 may be provided to display the rate of delivered breaths over time (for example, over minutes, min) for a period of time. As shown, the delivered breath indicator 408 is a floating indicator over an axis of breaths per minute. The delivered breath indicator 408 may be text, symbol, prompt, graphic, light, line, cursor, interactive element, indicator, or any display element suitable to display a rate of delivered breaths over time. In an embodiment, the period of time is predetermined or input by a clinician. For example, if a clinician wants to see the effect of changing settings on patient-ventilator synchrony, the clinician can set the historical delivered breath indicator 406 as the current delivered breath indicator 408. Then the clinician can change ventilation settings and observe how the change in settings affects the delivered breath indicator 408. This observation may give the clinician insight as to how effective the change in ventilation settings was to reduce patient-ventilator asynchrony. In an embodiment, the delivered breath indicator 408 includes a numeric value and/or text used to display delivered breaths over time for a period of time. For example, at least one of a number of delivered breaths over a period of time, such as the last minute, and a percentage or ratio of how many of the total breaths over a period of time, such as the last minute, were delivered where total breaths is the addition of missed breaths and delivered breaths.

As described previously the missed breath indicator 410 may be provided to display the rate of missed breaths over time (for example, over minutes, min) for a period of time. As shown, the missed breath indicator 410 is a floating indicator over an axis of breaths per minute. The missed breath indicator 410 may be text, symbol, prompt, graphic, light, line, cursor, interactive element, indicator, or any display element suitable to display a rate of missed breaths over time. In an embodiment, the period of time is predetermined or input by a clinician. For example, if a clinician wants to see the effect of changing settings on patient-ventilator synchrony, the clinician can set the historical missed breath indicator 412 as the current missed breath indicator 410. Then the clinician can change ventilation settings and observe how the change in settings affects the missed breath indicator 410. This observation may give the clinician insight as to how effective the change in ventilation settings was to reduce patient-ventilator asynchrony. In an embodiment, the missed breath indicator 410 includes a numeric value and/or text used to display missed breaths over time for a period of time. For example, at least one of a number of missed breaths over a period of time, such as the last minute, and a percentage or ratio of how many of the total breaths over a period of time, such as the last minute, were missed where total breaths is the addition of missed breaths and delivered breaths.

As previously described, the historical delivered breath indicator 406 may be provided to display the rate of delivered breaths over time (for example, over minutes, min) for a historical archived period of time. As shown, the historical delivered breath indicator 406 is a floating indicator over an axis of breaths per minute. In an embodiment, the historical archived period of time is predetermined or input by a clinician. For example, if a clinician wants to see the effect of changing settings on patient-ventilator synchrony, the clinician can set the historical delivered breath indicator 406 as the current delivered breath indicator 408. Then the clinician can change ventilation settings and observe how the change in settings affects the delivered breath indicator 408. This observation may give the clinician insight as to how effective the change in ventilation settings was to reduce patient-ventilator asynchrony. In an embodiment, the historical delivered breath indicator 406 includes a numeric value and/or text used to display delivered breaths over time for a historical archived period of time. For example, at least one of a number of delivered breaths over a period of time, such as a minute, and a percentage or ratio of how many of the total breaths over a period of time, such as a minute, were delivered where total breaths is the addition of missed breaths and delivered breaths.

As previously described, the historical missed breath indicator 412 displays the rate of total breaths over time (for example, over minutes, min) for a historical archived period of time, where total breaths is the addition of delivered breaths and missed breaths. In another embodiment, the historical missed breath indicator 412 displays the rate of missed breaths over time (for example, over minutes, min) for a historical archived period of time. As shown, the historical missed breath indicator 412 is a floating indicator over an axis of breaths per minute. Further, the historical missed breath indicator 412 is of a shape that will form a distinguishable shape, which may or may not be different, when representing the same value on the axis as the historical delivered breath indicator 406. In an embodiment, the historical archived period of time is predetermined or input by a clinician. For example, if a clinician wants to see the effect of changing settings on patient-ventilator synchrony, the clinician can set the historical missed breath indicator 412 as the current missed breath indicator 410. Then the clinician can change ventilation settings and observe how the change in settings affects the missed breath indicator 410. This observation may give the clinician insight as to how effective the change in ventilation settings was to reduce patient-ventilator asynchrony. In an embodiment, the historical missed breath indicator 412 includes a numeric value and/or text used to display missed breaths over time for a historical archived period of time. For example, at least one of a number of missed breaths over a period of time, such as a minute, and a percentage or ratio of how many of the total breaths over a period of time, such as a minute, were missed where total breaths is the addition of missed breaths and delivered breaths. It should be noted that in the depicted embodiment the axis label “Respiratory Rate Synchrony Indicator” represents a missed breath indicator used to display that a mode, such as the missed breath module 211 or trigger detection applications as described above, is running in the background to determine when missed breaths occur.

The GUI 400 further includes the missed breath cursor 414. The missed breath cursor 414 is a specific type of missed breath indicator 410 that is provided to display relative to another graphical representation, for example the pressure waveform 402 and/or the flow waveform 404, when a missed breath occurred. As described previously with reference to the graphics module 226, missed breath indicators may be time-stamped, or otherwise associated with a time element, when respiratory data is received by the monitoring modules 216-222 or the missed breath module 211. Alternatively, a time element may be associated with the respiratory data when a graphical representation and/or indicator is generated by the graphics module 226 or missed breath module 211, for example. In either case, when a clinician utilizes a cursor mode to scroll back into historical data, the graphics module 226, or other retrieval module (not shown), may determine appropriate respiratory data corresponding to the scroll time. The appropriate respiratory data may then be displayed as the missed breath cursor 414. As shown, the missed breath cursor 414 is a cursor displayed at the correct temporal location over the pressure waveform 402 and the flow waveform 404, and represents an occurrence of a missed breath. Further, the missed breath cursor 414 as shown is of a shape that will form a distinguishable shape, which may or may not be different, when located at the same or similar temporal location as the delivered breath cursor 416. In an embodiment, a patient effort detected using the missed breath module 211 or the trigger detection applications as described above while running in the background to detect missed breaths is displayed using the missed breath cursor 414. As shown, the most recent breath (the cursor furthest to the right of the pressure 402 and flow waveforms 404) was triggered by a patient effort that was detected by both a mode running in the background to detect missed breaths and a mode used to trigger the ventilator, and therefore the cursor forms a different shape, in this case a diamond as opposed to a triangle, which can be interpreted by a clinician as a synchronous patient effort, or a patient effort that directly resulted in the delivery of a breath from the ventilator.

The GUI 400 further includes the delivered breath cursor 416. The delivered breath cursor 416 is a specific type of missed breath indicator 410 that is provided to display relative to another graphical representation, for example the pressure waveform 402 and/or the flow waveform 404, when a delivered breath occurred. As described previously with reference to the graphics module 226, delivered breath indicators may be time-stamped, or otherwise associated with a time element, when respiratory data is received by the monitoring modules 216-222. Alternatively, a time element may be associated with the respiratory data when a graphical representation is generated by the graphics module 226, for example. In either case, when a clinician utilizes a cursor mode to scroll back into historical data, the graphics module 226, or other retrieval module (not shown), may determine appropriate respiratory data corresponding to the scroll time. The appropriate respiratory data may then be displayed as the delivered breath cursor 416. As shown, the delivered breath cursor 416 is a cursor displayed at the correct temporal location over the pressure waveform 402 and the flow waveform 404, and represents an occurrence of a delivered breath. Further, the delivered breath cursor 416 as shown is of a shape that will form a distinguishable shape, which may or may not be different, when located at the same or similar temporal location as the missed breath cursor 414. In an embodiment, a patient effort detected using the monitoring modules 216-222 or the trigger detection applications as described above while running in the foreground to detect patient effort or other respiratory data used to trigger the delivery of a breath is displayed using the delivered breath cursor 416.

The GUI 400 further includes the monitoring mode settings 418. The monitoring mode settings 418 may be provided to display and/or adjust one or more settings relating to the trigger detection application running in the background to detect missed breaths. As shown the monitoring mode settings 418 include an option for turning the missed breath monitoring on or off, a setting to adjust the inhalation trigger sensitivity level of the background trigger detection application, a setting to adjust the exhalation trigger sensitivity level of the background trigger detection application, and an option to close, or not display, the monitoring mode settings 418.

The disclosed windows and elements of the GUI 400 may be arranged in any suitable order or configuration such that information may be communicated to the clinician in an efficient and orderly manner. Windows disclosed in the illustrated embodiment of the GUI 400 may be configured with elements for accessing alternative graphical display screens as may be provided by the ventilator. Disclosed windows and elements are not to be understood as an exclusive array, as any number of similar suitable windows and elements may be displayed for the clinician within the spirit of the present disclosure. Further, the disclosed windows and elements are not to be understood as a necessary array, as any number of the disclosed windows and elements may be appropriately replaced by other suitable windows and elements without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure. The illustrated embodiment of the GUI 400 is provided as an example only, including potentially useful windows and elements that may be provided to the clinician to facilitate the input of selections and commands relevant to the display of respiratory data and to display such respiratory data in an orderly and informative way, as described herein.

The above-mentioned embodiments of one or more missed breath indicator display screens, illustrated in FIG. 4, are not meant to provide an exclusive array of potential or possible embodiments. Indeed, some of the features and characteristics of the above embodiments may be interchanged and combined to provide additional embodiments and configurations of the described graphical user interfaces. In addition, in keeping with the spirit of the present disclosure, features described may not be essential, but may be added or removed according to the desires and needs of a clinician, hospital, clinic, or other entity or individual.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a method 500 for displaying and/or updating the display of a missed breath indicator. In an embodiment, the method 500 is performed by the missed breath module 109 described in FIG. 1. As illustrated, the ventilator system during the method 500 starts ventilation as is described with respect to starting ventilation in the above method 300. The method 500 further includes a detect patient effort operation 506 and an effective trigger determination operation 508, which are the same as operations 306 and 308, respectively, and a update missed breath indicator operation 512. During the effective trigger determination operation 508 if the patient effort is determined to be effective the method 500 will return to the detect patient effort operation 506. During the effective trigger determination operation 508 if the patient effort is determined to be ineffective the method 500 will proceed to the update missed breath indicator operation 512.

The method 500 further includes the update missed breath indicator operation 512. The ventilator during the update missed breath indicator operation 512 displays a missed breath indicator for the ineffective trigger effort. In an embodiment, the ventilator during the update missed breath indicator operation 512 updates the display of a missed breath indicator previously displayed for the ineffective trigger effort. The ventilator may store a sequential history of the missed breath indicators provided. The missed breath module 211, or another suitable component and/or module, may archive missed breath indicators according to time, and may associate a time element with the missed breath indicators. In the alternative, the monitoring modules 216-222 may associate the missed breath indicators with a time element, or time stamp, before communicating data to the graphics module 226 and/or the missed breath module 211. In either case, missed breath indicators may be archived in sequential order based on time, resulting in an archived ineffective indicator. In an embodiment, a missed breath is displayed as at least one of text, symbol, prompt, graphic, light, line, cursor, interactive element, indicator, or by another suitable form of graphic display. In another embodiment the missed breath indicator displays a missed breath rate. This rate can be the number or an average of the number of missed breaths per time period, where the time period can be predetermined, such as a minute, or input by the clinician. For example, a missed breath indicator displays the number of missed breaths in the last minute. The average can be taken from a predetermined or input number of values over a predetermined or input period of time. For example, a missed breath indicator displays a rate based on an average of the last five values where each value represents the number of missed breaths for that minute. In an embodiment, a missed breath indicator displays a percentage or ratio at least partially representative of the missed breaths. For example, if the number of delivered breaths as well as the number of missed breaths are both known then a missed breath indicator representing a percentage or ratio of missed breaths per total breaths may be displayed where total breaths is the addition of missed breaths and delivered breaths. In an embodiment, the missed breath indicator displays a total breath indicator where the total breath indicator at least partially represents the total breaths, where the total breaths are the addition of missed breaths and delivered breaths. Additionally, a missed breath indicator may be displayed to represent that missed breaths are being monitored. Further, a missed breath indicator may be displayed to represent settings for monitoring missed breaths. For example, a missed breath indicator displays a prompt with adjustable elements representative of turning on and/or off the missed breath monitoring as well as inhalation and exhalation trigger values for missed breath monitoring using the first trigger detection application. Indeed, data may be collected and displayed according to any suitable method.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of a method 600 for displaying and/or updating the display of a missed breath indicator. In an embodiment, the method 600 is performed by the missed breath module 109 described in FIG. 1. As illustrated, the ventilator system during the method 600 starts ventilation as is described with respect to starting ventilation in the above method 300. The method 600 further includes a monitor ventilation operation 602, a detect patient effort operation 604, a calculate missed breaths operation 608, and an update missed breath indicator operation 612. In an embodiment, the method further includes an update counter operation 606.

The method 600 includes the monitor ventilation operation 602. During the monitor ventilation operation 602 the ventilator monitors respiratory data with at least one sensor. In an embodiment, the at least one sensor is similar to the sensors utilized by the monitoring modules 216-222 as described above. In an embodiment, the respiratory data includes at least one of a pressure, flow, volume, intrapleural pressure, and/or any other data collected regarding the physical condition of the patient.

The method 600 further includes the detect patient effort operation 604. During the detect patient effort operation 604 the ventilator analyzes the respiratory data with a first trigger detection application and a second trigger detection application. Further, during the detect patient effort operation 604 the ventilator detects patient inspiratory and/or expiratory efforts with the first trigger detection application and the second trigger detection application. In an embodiment, the ventilator uses at least two trigger detection applications to analyze the monitored respiratory data. As discussed above, a trigger detection application is a hardware or software application that determines when a patient effort occurs based on a selected or predetermined spontaneous breath type. The second, or active trigger detection application may include Proportional Assist Ventilation (PAV), Volume Ventilation Plus (VV+), I:E SYNC, Pressure Support (PS), Volume Support (VS), Assist Control (AC), Volume Control (VC), Pressure Control (PC), Airway Pressure Release Ventilation (APRV), Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), and BiLevel Positive Airway Pressure (BPAP). The active trigger detection application may determine patient efforts based on monitoring respiratory parameters such as but not limited to pressure and flow. In one embodiment the first, or background trigger detection application is I:E SYNC. In this embodiment, the background trigger detection application determines patient effort based on monitoring intrapleural pressure.

During the detect patient effort operation 604 if a patient effort is not detected by a trigger detection application, the method 600 will return to the monitor ventilation operation 602. During the detect patient effort operation 604 if a patient effort is detected by a trigger detection application, the method 600 will proceed to the calculate missed breaths operation 608. In an embodiment, during the detect patient effort operation 604 if a patient effort is detected by a trigger detection application, the method 600 will proceed to the update counter operation 606.

The method 600 includes the calculate missed breaths operation 608. In an embodiment, during the calculate missed breaths operation 608 the ventilator calculates a missed breaths metric based on detected patient inspiratory and/or expiratory efforts by the first trigger detection application and detected patient inspiratory and/or expiratory efforts by the second trigger detection application. A missed breaths metric is an equation, number, point in time, value, percentage, rate, ratio, relationship, or any other suitable representation of missed breaths. In an embodiment, if the first trigger detection application detects a patient inspiratory and/or expiratory effort that is not within an expected and reasonable time delay, such as 3 seconds or less, of a patient inspiratory and/or expiratory effort detected by the second trigger detection application, then a breath has been missed. The ventilator during the calculate missed breaths operation 608 may store a single instance of a missed breath or a sequential history of the missed breaths over a predetermined period of time or a period of time set by a clinician. In an embodiment, an equation or mathematical operation is used to determine if the first detected patient effort correlates with the second detected patient effort.

In an embodiment, the ventilator during the calculate missed breaths operation 608 calculates a missed breaths metric based on the at least one counter. In this embodiment, the method 600 further includes the update counter operation 606. During the update counter operation 606 the ventilator updates a counter with a sum of the detected patient inspiratory and/or expiratory efforts by the first trigger detection application and a sum of the detected patient inspiratory and/or expiratory efforts by the second trigger detection application. In an embodiment, at least two counters are used, where a first counter is updated with a sum of the detected patient inspiratory and/or expiratory efforts by the first trigger detection application and a second counter is updated with a sum of the detected patient inspiratory and/or expiratory efforts by the second trigger detection application. In an embodiment, a single counter is used where a count of patient inspiratory and/or expiratory efforts detected with the first trigger detection application is added to the counter and a count of patient inspiratory and/or expiratory efforts detected with the second trigger detection application is subtracted from the counter. In another embodiment a mathematical model, or algorithm is used to calculate how patient inspiratory and/or expiratory efforts detected with the first or second trigger detection applications update at least one counter. In an embodiment, the at least one counter is reset after a predetermined amount of time or breath cycles, or in response to clinician input.

In an embodiment, a first counter represents a sum of patient inspiratory and/or expiratory efforts detected with a first trigger detection application and a second counter represents a sum of patient inspiratory and/or expiratory efforts detected with a second trigger detection application. The ventilator during the calculate missed breaths operation 608 performs an algorithm or mathematical operation, such as subtracting the count of the second counter from the count of the first counter, with the two counters to calculate a missed breaths metric. In an embodiment, the value of a counter represents a missed breaths metric and no further algorithm or mathematical operation is needed to calculate the missed breaths metric. In another embodiment, a single counter is used and an algorithm or mathematical operation must be performed with the counter in order to calculate the missed breaths metric. Indeed, the missed breaths metric may be calculated according to any suitable method.

The method 600 further includes the update missed breath indicator operation 612. The ventilator during the update missed breath indicator operation 612 displays a missed breath indicator based on the missed breaths metric. In an embodiment, the ventilator during the update missed breath indicator operation 612 updates the display of a previously displayed missed breath indicator based on the missed breaths metric. The ventilator may store a sequential history of the missed breath indicators provided. The missed breath module 211, or another suitable component and/or module, may archive missed breath indicators according to time, and may associate a time element with the missed breath indicators. In the alternative, the monitoring modules 216-222 may associate the missed breath indicators with a time element, or time stamp, before communicating data to the graphics module 226 and/or the missed breath module 211. In either case, missed breath indicators may be archived in sequential order based on time, resulting in an archived ineffective indicator. In an embodiment, the missed breath indicator is displayed on top of a graphical representation of a respiratory signal such as, but not limited to, pressure and flow, at an appropriate temporal location based on when the missed breath occurred. In an embodiment, a missed breath is displayed as at least one of text, symbol, prompt, graphic, light, line, cursor, interactive element, indicator, or by another suitable form of graphic display.

In another embodiment the missed breath indicator displays a missed breath rate. This rate can be the number or an average of the number of missed breaths per time period, where the time period can be predetermined, such as a minute, or input by the clinician. For example, a missed breath indicator displays the number of missed breaths in the last minute. The average can be taken from a predetermined or input number of values over a predetermined or input period of time. For example, a missed breath indicator displays a rate based on an average of the last five values where each value represents the number of missed breaths for that minute. In an embodiment, a missed breath indicator displays a percentage or ratio at least partially representative of the missed breaths. For example, if the number of delivered breaths as well as the number of missed breaths are both known, then a missed breath indicator representing a percentage or ratio of missed breaths per total breaths may be displayed where total breaths is the addition of missed breaths and delivered breaths. In an embodiment, the missed breath indicator displays a total breath indicator where the total breath indicator at least partially represents the total breaths, where the total breaths is the addition of missed breaths and delivered breaths.

Additionally, a missed breath indicator may be displayed to represent that missed breaths are being monitored. Further, a missed breath indicator may be displayed to represent settings for monitoring missed breaths. For example, a missed breath indicator displays a prompt with adjustable elements representative of turning on and/or off the missed breath monitoring as well as inhalation and exhalation trigger values for missed breath monitoring using the first trigger detection application. Indeed, data may be collected and displayed according to any suitable method.

In an embodiment, the method 600 following the update missed breath indicator operation 612 returns to the monitor ventilation operation 602.

It will be clear that the systems and methods described herein are well adapted to attain the ends and advantages mentioned as well as those inherent therein. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the methods and systems within this specification may be implemented in many manners and as such is not to be limited by the foregoing exemplified embodiments and examples. In other words, functional elements being performed by a single or multiple components, in various combinations of hardware and software, and individual functions can be distributed among software applications at either the client or server level. In this regard, any number of the features of the different embodiments described herein may be combined into one single embodiment and alternative embodiments having fewer than or more than all of the features herein described are possible.

While various embodiments have been described for purposes of this disclosure, various changes and modifications may be made which are well within the scope of the present invention. Numerous other changes may be made which will readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art and which are encompassed in the spirit of the disclosure and as defined in the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method implemented by a ventilator for determining missed breaths, the method comprising: ventilating a patient with the ventilator, wherein the ventilator includes a pneumatic system and at least one sensor; monitoring respiratory data of the patient with the at least one sensor; analyzing the respiratory data with a background trigger detection application and an active trigger detection application, wherein the background trigger detection application and the active trigger detection application are different and running at the same time; detecting a first patient inspiratory effort with the active trigger application; detecting a second patient inspiratory effort with the background trigger application; comparing a first timing of the first patient inspiratory effort to a second timing of the second patient inspiratory effort; determining a timing difference between the first patient inspiratory effort and the second inspiratory effort; comparing the timing difference to a time delay threshold; determining that the timing difference does not meet the time delay threshold to form a missed breath determination; calculating a missed breaths metric based on the missed breath determination; displaying a missed breath indicator based on the missed breaths metric; and delivering inspiratory gas to the patient with the ventilator based on patient inspiratory efforts detected by the active trigger detection application and not based on patient inspiratory efforts detected by the background trigger detection application.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the background trigger detection application monitors patient inspiratory efforts based on at least intrapleural pressure.
 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of calculating the missed breaths metric comprises: updating a counter with a sum of detected patient inspiratory efforts by the background trigger detection application and a sum of detected patient inspiratory efforts by the active trigger detection application; determining a difference with the counter between the sum of the detected patient inspiratory efforts by the background trigger detection application and the sum of the detected patient inspiratory efforts by the active trigger detection application; and calculating the missed breaths metric based on the difference.
 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of calculating the missed breaths metric comprises: updating a first counter with a sum of detected patient inspiratory efforts by the background trigger detection application and a second counter with a sum of detected patient inspiratory efforts by the active trigger detection application; determining a difference between the first counter and the second counter; and calculating the missed breaths metric based on the difference.
 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of displaying the missed breath indicator comprises: determining a graphical representation of the respiratory data; displaying the graphical representation; determining an appropriate position for the missed breaths metric on the graphical representation based on time; and displaying the missed breath indicator based on the missed breaths metric at the appropriate position on the graphical representation.
 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of displaying the missed breath indicator comprises: archiving a plurality of missed breaths metrics during a time period; determining an appropriate missed breath indicator based on the archived plurality of missed breaths metrics; and displaying the missed breath indicator.
 7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the step of displaying the missed breath indicator comprises: determining a graphical representation of the respiratory data; displaying the graphical representation; determining an appropriate position on the graphical representation based on time for the archived plurality of missed breaths metrics; and displaying the missed breath indicator at the appropriate position on the graphical representation.
 8. A ventilator system, the ventilator system comprising: a ventilator including a pneumatic system, at least one sensor, and a user interface; wherein the pneumatic system provides pressurized gas to a patient being ventilated by the ventilator system in response to patient inspiratory efforts detected by an active trigger detection application; wherein the ventilator determines additional patient efforts that are detected by a background trigger application; wherein the ventilator determines a missed breath based on a calculated timing difference between the additional patient inspiratory efforts detected by the background trigger detection application and the patient inspiratory efforts detected by the active trigger detection application, wherein the background trigger detection application and the active trigger detection application are different; wherein the user interface accepts commands and displays respiratory data, the user interface including: graphical representations of respiratory data; and a missed breath indicator.
 9. The ventilator system according to claim 8, wherein the user interface further comprises: a delivered breath indicator on the graphical representation.
 10. The ventilator system according to claim 8, wherein the missed breath indicator is based on detected patient inspiratory efforts from monitoring intrapleural pressure.
 11. The ventilator system according to claim 8, wherein the missed breath indicator is a cursor on the graphical representation representing a temporal location of a missed breath.
 12. The ventilator system according to claim 8, wherein the missed breath indicator is at least one of a rate and a percentage representing missed breaths per total breaths, wherein total breaths is the addition of missed breaths and delivered breaths.
 13. A ventilatory system for providing a graphical user interface for accepting commands and for displaying respiratory data, comprising: at least one display device; a missed breath module that determines missed breaths based on a calculated difference between a number of background patient inspiratory efforts detected by a background trigger detection application and a number of active patient inspiratory efforts detected by an active trigger detection application; a ventilation module that ventilates a patient based on the active patient inspiratory efforts detected by the active trigger detection application and not based on the background patient inspiratory efforts detected by the background trigger detection application; and at least one memory, communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and containing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor of the ventilatory system, provide the graphical user interface on the at least one display, the graphical user interface comprising: a missed breath indicator.
 14. The ventilatory system of claim 13, wherein the background trigger detection application determines missed breaths based on monitored intrapleural pressure.
 15. The ventilatory system of claim 13, wherein the graphical user interface on the at least one display further comprises: graphical representations of respiratory data, wherein the missed breath indicator is located on the graphical representation.
 16. The ventilatory system of claim 13, wherein the missed breath indicator includes an archived ineffective indicator.
 17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions implemented by a processor on a ventilator for determining missed breaths, the instructions-comprising: monitor respiratory data with at least one sensor; analyze the respiratory data with a background trigger detection application and an active trigger detection application; detect a first patient inspiratory effort with the active trigger application; detect a second patient inspiratory effort with the background trigger application; determine a timing difference between the first patient inspiratory effort and the second inspiratory effort; determine that the timing difference does not meet a time delay threshold to form a missed breath determination; trigger ventilation in a patient being ventilated by the ventilator system based on patient inspiratory efforts detected with the active trigger detection application and not the patient inspiratory efforts detected by the background trigger detection application; calculate a missed breaths metric based on the missed breath determination; and display a missed breath indicator based on the missed breaths metric.
 18. A medical ventilator system, comprising: means for ventilating a patient with the medical ventilator, wherein the medical ventilator includes a pneumatic system and at least one sensor; means for monitoring respiratory data with the at least one sensor; means for analyzing the respiratory data with a background trigger detection application and an active trigger detection application; means for detecting a first patient inspiratory effort with the active trigger application; means for detecting a second patient inspiratory effort with the background trigger application; means for comparing a first timing of the first patient inspiratory effort to a second timing of the second patient inspiratory effort; means for determining a timing difference between the first patient inspiratory effort and the second inspiratory effort; means for comparing the timing difference to a time delay threshold; means for determining that the timing difference does not meet the time delay threshold to form a missed breath determination; means for calculating a missed breaths metric based on the missed breath determination; means for displaying a missed breath indicator based on the missed breaths metric; and wherein the means for ventilating the patient delivers inspiratory gases to the patient based on patient inspiratory efforts detected by the active trigger detection application and not the background trigger detection application. 